Frail Ferraris

I enjoyed Jethro Bovingdon’s musings on the somewhat unexpected reliability of modern Ferraris (column, evo 295). It reminded me of my first Ferrari experience some years ago.

Growing up around a family car business, I was a petrolhead from a young age and had the usual supercar posters adorning my bedroom wall – in my case a red Porsche 959 and a red Ferrari F40. One of the perks of the business was the occasional arrival of something less mundane than the usual family saloons and tepid hatchbacks, so you can imagine my excitement when I got word that a Ferrari and a Porsche were arriving into stock on the same day. Lottery winners have probably never experienced that same level of elation!

My exhilaration took a slight nosedive when the Ferrari turned out to be a Mondial. The damage was then compounded when my first passenger run out in it revealed that the heater was stuck on hot, the electric windows didn’t work, reverse gear had left the building and the engine was tappety – amongst other gremlins.

And the Porsche? I never quite expected a 959, but thought there may be a chance of a 911 arriving. What actually landed was a white 928 S4, and in true Teutonic style it felt rock solid and everything worked perfectly. I’ve subsequently driven other 928s and have developed a huge affection for them, but I still look forward to a drive in a modern (reliable!) Ferrari someday so I can scrub that disappointing first experience from memory.

Gary Reilly